Poll blunder irked Queen

MINISTERS warned Theresa May she was being ‘discourteous’ to the Queen after rushing to form a government without securing DUP backing.

A Cabinet source told the Mail that Buckingham Palace was ‘irritated’ by Mrs May’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of June’s election.

The PM went to the Palace the day after she failed to win a majority, and announced she had ‘formed a government’. But it took her a further 17 days to strike a deal.

The delay caused the state opening of Parliament to be put back until the middle of Royal Ascot, which meant rejigging the Queen’s arrangements. A Cabinet source said: ‘It is a matter of courtesy. When it all dragged on, they did get irritated.’

The row was highlighted in a new book on the election by political journalist Tim Shipman, which quotes a royal source saying the Queen felt misled over the issue.